I've gotten rather a large number of emails over the past month or so asking for advice in building a Space Sharks (aka Charcaradon Astra) using Tyrberos, the character out of the second Badab War book. Though I've replied to them individually, I figure I may as well pass along what I've said for others here and give some tips for trying to make the army work. Tyberos is an okay character, but he suffers from some real problems when trying to build a strongly competitive army and is not particularly cheap, either. On the other hand, you get a pretty decent value on him and he does at least open up a unique army for SM, which is more than you can say for a lot of characters.
First, let's take a look at what we're working with. Tyberos is a 190pt HQ for a Space Marines army. He carries Terminator Armor, a Teleport Homer, and his CC weapons, which count as a Lightning Claw and Chainfist and may divide his attacks between the two of them. Interestingly, Tyberos allows you to take either Command Squad or Honor Guard unit, as you please- not that this will be something you do terribly often, but having the choice is a neat little perk. His chapter tactic gives you Furious Charge, which is good... but you also gain Rage once you win a fight, which is very bad. Also oddly, you only gain Rage if you beat an infantry unit, so if you punch an MC, jump infantry, or bike to death, nothing special happens. He also allows you two other changes to the normal army: one squad of Claw-equipped Assault Terminators can be taken as Troops and anyone with a Boltgun can trade it for a CCW.
What does this give us? Well, obviously he pushes for an assault-oriented force, but SM isn't actually all that great at that sort of thing in most cases. FC and the potential for +1A is nice, but it doesn't make up for other deficiencies. However, if we want, we can do a sort of "wannabe Space Wolves" list with our guys and make use of the fact that we get some things they don't. We also can focus on his Terminators, which lets us potentially save some points on Troops and build a nasty Rock list. Tyberos, however, is not cheap, so if you're trying to run him at 1500 or 1750pts, you're going to run into some real constraints.
List 1: Space
This will be our most "balanced" list, focusing on Tyberos's ability to make our squads more functional in CC. It will, for the most part, use the standard SM template to build a good shooting army, but with a somewhat unique counterassault presence. This list will not, for the most part, feel particularly "Space Shark-y" but does at least take advantage of some of his abilities.
2000pt Space Marines
1 Tyberos, the Red Wake
1 Dreadnought (2 TLAC)
1 Dreadnought (2 TLAC)
5 Sternguard (2 Lascannon; Rhino)
5 Assault Terminators (LC) (taken as troops)
10 Tactical Marines (MM, Melta, Combi-Melta, PW; Rhino)
10 Tactical Marines (MM, Melta, Combi-Melta, PW; Rhino)
5 Tactical Marines (LasPlas Razorback)
1 Land Speeder (Typhoon)
1 Land Speeder (Typhoon)
1 Land Speeder (Typhoon)
1 Predator (HBs)
1 Predator (HBs)
1 Predator (HBs)
So it's pretty much a standard "shooty-shoot shoot" list, but you have a reasonably flexible counterassault unit in the LC Termies- deep striking them will often be the correct choice, since since they can threaten a distant objective rather easily, being troops. Tyberos, lacking a ride, will have to either hide behind a Rhino or appear with the Termies- generally the former will be preferrable, since it gives you perfect accuracy when arriving to fend off the enemy as they approach your formation. You have a good mix of anti-infantry and anti-tank and the Tacticals can rush into midfield and hold it rather effectively- their Multimeltas present large "do not cross" lines for enemy transports and they can potentially make a strong charge into anything but a dedicated CC unit. (Note the addition of PWs to take full advantage of Furious Charge- yes, the enemy can sometimes slough wounds, but it's usually good to have at least one or two assured kills before the enemy can go.) This list tries to play the generalist game, outfighting what it can't outshoot, but it mostly suffers from lacking the utility HQ that a normal SM army would get.
List 2: Blood in the Water
Sometimes you just feel like going in for the kill. This list feels like that all the time- it's just a rock, nothing more, nothing less. You get to play pretend Blood Angels here instead of pretend SW, although you lack their Fast vehicles and FNP, you also aren't paying the point tax for either of those things. Like any rock list, your plan is pretty simple- bludgeon the opponent to death with your blunt object. Unlike a more traditional SM rock list, you won't have a Librarian (which can be bad), but you have more flexibility between the two units you're throwing at them- TH/SS should obviously aim for "hard" units like MCs and Paladins, whereas the LC guys will want to take on more standard power armor guys and anything with I4 or less. Remember you have Furious Charge! Rage is going to come up a lot for this army, so be prepared to use your transports to block your own LOS and finagle re-embarking onto them.
2000pts Space Marines
1 Tyberos, the Red Wake
5 Assault Terminators (TH/SS)
1 Dreadnought (2 TLAC)
1 Dreadnought (2 TLAC)
5 Assault Terminators (LC) (LR Crusader w/EA, MM) (taken as troops)
10 Tactical Marines (MM, Flamer; Rhino)
5 Tactical Marines (LasPlas Razor)
1 Attack Bike (MM)
1 Attack Bike (MM)
1 Attack Bike (MM)
1 Predator (HB sponsons)
1 LR Crusader (EA, MM)
You can swap for CCWs or not as you please in this list; I don't think it makes a big difference. The Rhinobunker moves into midfield while the LasPlas stays in the backfield, both of them looking to claim objectives; The Predator and Riflemen can pick off targets of opportunity, but they should especially be looking to open up transports for you to charge. Attack Bikes and pintle guns help with that task, but you'll need to direct all possible fire to it early on. You have the option of backing off with the LRs late in the game to give troops somewhere to hide- especially if your opponent lacks Melta you may be able to basically just act like big, dumb, unkillable bricks and win the game that way.
List 3: Derp Strike
If you want to really true to their fluff, however, playing sans tanks is the way to go. This is the worst of the three lists by a long shot, but it does what it can play strong and it does have some decent tricks to pull off; if you aren't playing heavily competitive, this list can work reasonably well. You lack the hail of Bolter fire that most SM lists end up with, but being able to bonk most guys to death in CC is a pretty decent compensation. Here Rage is much less of a problem because you intend to be right next to the enemy already; however, if you don't roll really well on the drop, skimmer armies will take you to pieces. Note that you have a fair number of unique tricks compared to an SW version of this- Multimeltas, FC, being able to cram Tyberos into a Pod alongside a full squad, TH/SS, etc, so unlike the other two you aren't quite so much a "worser version of something else" list so much as a "somewhat subpar" list. However, there's plenty to be said for playing right into the stereotypical Marine assault force, so you should gain plenty of brownie points for that, at least.
2000pt Space Marines
1 Tyberos, the Red Wake
10 Assault Terminators (TH/SS)
5 Sternguard (3 Combi-Melta; Drop Pod)
5 Sternguard (2 Combi-Melta; Drop Pod)
5 Assault Terminators (Lightning Claws) (taken as Troops)
10 Tactical Marines (Meltagun, Multimelta, Combi-melta; Drop Pod; Teleport Homer)
10 Tactical Marines (Meltagun, Multimelta; Drop Pod)
10 Tactical Marines (Meltagun, Multimelta; Drop Pod)
1 Land Speeder (MM/HF)
1 Land Speeder (MM/HF)
1 Land Speeder (MM/HF)
All Tactical Marines swap Bolter for CCW; Sternguard do not. Tyberos rides with one of the Tactical squads, probably one without a Homer on it. The normal first wave is probably going to be all thirty Tacticals most of the time, and if you're going first you might just want to have the Terminators deploy on the table along with the Speeders to put as much pressure on the opponent as possible, though of course this will depend a lot on deployment, terrain, mission, etc. Lacking any way to help reserves, you are greatly at the mercy of the dice in successive turns, but ideally your strike force of big, punchy dudes shows up and helps finish the job relatively fast. Speeders and Tactical Multimeltas, along with the Sternguard, help you de-mech people, but anything that gets away from you is probably gone forever. A really canny player might charge one of your squads with something expendable to insure they can't shoot anymore due to Rage, so be on the lookout- no matter what you do Rage is going to make a lot of fights annoying.
Conclusions
Tyberos isn't a great HQ, but he's a usable one. The Space Sharks, as described in the fluff, are all but unplayable- you can't infiltrate and you're not actually all that good in CC, even with the weapon swap, so "sneaking up on the enemy and slaughtering them in close combat" is sort of impossible. You can, however, make a couple different kinds of interesting lists with them, depending on what you're looking for and how closely you want to cleave to their portrayals.
